Manchester 13th to 15th April 2009

Finally!

FINALLY!

yes... finally I'm about to visit Old Trafford, a place I've only see on the telly since I was a Man Utd fan. Come to think of it, I still pinch myself when I think about the fact that I've visited the Theater of Dreams! hmm okok enough about that, lol XD

Having Easter holidays at the moment for 3 weeks...argh...assignments and a final project write up thats dued on the 1st of of May! anyways, albeit the fact that I'm stressed up over work, I've managed to slot in a Manchester trip somewhere in between the holidays :D

Well, thanks to a childhood friend of mine Nicholas, I've decided to take time off studying and visit him down in Manchester. Took the bus at 11.45pm and stopped by Leeds. Tried to look up Jason but he was busy and I guess it was because I called him really last minute lol. Anyways, arrived later in Manchester at about 4.30pm and met good ol' Nick at the bus terminal. He told me we were gonna have Korean dinner that night and coincidently, I've been really into K-pop music lately..hmm XD

Walked abit around the city center, Manchester really is an awesome city... again I'm comparing it to little Sunderland *tsk tsk* Met up with 3 new friends at the Korean restaurant "Koreana" lol. Joyce, Wendy, and the last girl I can't quite recall what her name was... Wen Yi, Wen Yee sorry! XD



Dinner was awesome as I had a beef bimbim bab :D Got home to Nick's student apartment around 9 to 10pm. Gosh it's so different from my place, I wont post any picture just to respect his privacy lol. =D Spent the night chit-chatting, dota-ing, and reminiscing bout the good times. Seriously Nick has never changed since we left elementary school... same jolly ol' Nick lol.

Woke up really early the next day to catch a bus to Old trafford... I woke up at like freakin' 7.30am! I've never gotten up earlier than 8am since like forever, anyways arrived in Old Trafford and I was left speechless in amazement and awe. The stadium is so majestic, it emits some kinda aura that leaves you rooted to your feet and only able to stare at it... okok I know thats alittle exaggerated but that's how I felt! XD


We got our little stadium tour tickets and moved on into the stadium museum to get ready for the 9.40am tour. The tour guide arrived not long after that and started taking us around the stadium grounds. The tour started at one of the stands and there he briefed us on Manchester United's early history and a little on how Old Trafford was built. We later moved on to places like the stands for the disabled, the dugout, player changing rooms, and to the side of the pitch. Everything felt like a dream as I was touring around the stadium... I mean like, Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs, Scholes actually change in this room bla bla, had refreshments in the other bla bla, walked down this very same tunnel bla bla XD



The tour ended about an hour later and we were left with our own time at the megastore and the museum. Without wasting much time, I moved on to the museum and I was smiling to myself the whole time! Manchester United memorilibias! Boots, jerseys, trophies, you name them, they've got them all the way from when the club was formed to the present day. Awards and sections dedicated to outstanding players were all on display. It was like walking down a time tunnel as I went from floor to floor exploring and reliving Manchester United's glorious past and present.




Lots of photos can be found in my facebook :D

After Old Trafford, we went for lunch at a 2 michelin star restaurant, Michael Caines. The food was awesome as expected from a reknowned chef! I'm not really a food blogger so I'll just keep the taste to myself lol. Spent some time at the restaurant chit-chatting before going to Trafford Center, a shopping mall that looks really like KL's 1 Utama. Lots of crazy shit branded stuff here and I got myself an t-shirt here just to remind myself that I was in Manchester :p




Had dinner at TGIF and it was hilarious... Nick ordered some drink and it was tasteless. He told the waitress to get him another one and this time it was a slight improvement to the previous one although it was the same drink. Later on he ordered a steak and he asked for it be medium. The steak came and it tasted like it was basked with a lot of salt, and I mean really alot lol. Again he asked for them to make another one for him. This time it came and it tasted like steak but it was well done! Rofl, for the 3rd time he called the waitress but instead, the manager came. He asked for Nick's opinion on what he and the TGIF staff should do to make Nick pleased. At the end they came to a mutual agreement to scrape the steak off the bill but Nick could go on eating the "well done" steak. Sigh, free dinner that costs 13 pounds!



Went back home and I fell asleep really early although we planned to go dimsum at midnight, sorry Joyce and Wendy! I guess my body's just not used to getting up at 7am+ lol. Woke up on the last day of my trip and had breakfast served by Nick XD was wondering why they weren't having any and I came to know that they were going to have dimsum for lunch arghh... how unfair is that!

Well, thanks alot Nick, Joyce, and Wendy for making my short Manchester trip fun and memorable! You guys take care yea!

Arrived back in Sunderland around late evening and back to the books!

Happy New Year 2009!

hmmm, its been very very very very long since i've posted anything in this blog...damn lazy already lol, anyways...

~HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009~

In a blink of an eye, another year has passed and I'm already in UK for 4 months. I'm beginning to doubt my decision for coming over to UK...everybody seems to be having fun back in Malaysia. Sigh, my first Xmas and New Year away from home. So how did I celebrate my Xmas 08? I went down to Leeds to celebrate it with Jason and Wan Ling! I always feel good to meet up with any highschool friend whenever I have the time. Chatting about nonsense or how much we miss our highschool days always makes me feel so much at home.

20/12/08 -

Woke up at 5.30am to catch a bus to Leeds with 3 other friends, Darrell, Kevin, and Zhen Hui. Our bus was scheduled at 7am. Arrived in Leeds about 3 hrs later. Spent the 1st day at Jason's place and looking around Leeds city center before heading off to the German Market to see Wan Ling and Wan Yee work :D (pictures can be found in my facebook). Thanks alot guys for the free meals lol.

21/12/08 -

Went to London by bus at around 7am. I forgot what time we arrived in London's Victoria Station but it should be around 11am. We were amazed at London and comparing it to Sunderland, I wished I was studying in London instead. Beautiful buildings, and well...city life lol. Took the tube to embankment station via circle line and later on arriving at our hostel in Waterloo. Quite a nice place to stay and well worth the price considering the fact that we have to share rooms with strangers. Breakfast too was provided. Later on we went to meet up with Zhen Hui's cousin in Chinatown and she treated us to dimsum! Thanks alot Zhen Hui's cousin! XD After the amazing lunch, she brought us to SOHO, a street/area that has lots and lots of sex shops lol. Anything genre can be found in the shops such as LGBT, fat chicks, etc etc, you name it, they have it. Took some kinky pictures and later on we moved on to have some Frech pastry. Again we were treated by his cousin. Thanks again :D

After that tasty treat, ZH's cousin went off and left us to wander around London armed with nothing but a map and a daily tube pass which was more than enough to get around the busy capital. First off we headed to Trafalgar Square and the fact that its winter, we had to rush as dusk will fall by 4-5pm. Took lots of great pictures and later on rushed to Buckingham palace only to know that we can't see anything as it was too dark. Decided to return the next day instead to see those guards lol. After many photo sessions, we left for Picadilly Circus to witness London's night life. We went on to experience Ripley's Believe it or Not and to no regrets, it was fun. Saw many weird stuff that Mr. Ripley once travelled around the world in search for. After that, we went back to the hostel and retired for the day.

22/12/08 -

Tower of London!!! Finally it was time to visit London's great tourist attraction but before that we had many sights to see in the agenda. In 1 day, we went to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace (again) but the change of guards was scheduled the next day so we decided to return for the 3rd time. Took a tube to Tower Hill where the Tower of London is located. Spent almost the whole day there as there were too many things to see and worst of all, we had to walk the entire time. Nonetheless, it was great to experience life in the middle ages, and how prisoners, kings, and people lived behind those great castle walls. Met up with my highschool junior Adrian for dinner at Holburn. Had Hainanese chicken rice for dinner. Thanks for the time Adrian! Keep in touch yea.

23/12/08 -

Finally, the day which focused on nothing but shopping, and shopping alone =D
Before that, we checked out of our hostel and later on we visited Buckingham Palace 1 more time and this time we were a little late but we managed to catch a glimpse of the reknowned "Change of Guards" routine. Took many photos and later on moved on to meet ZH's cousin 1 more time to collect "gifts" from here lol. We met her outside the British Museum but we didn't have the time to go inside so we just took photos outside the huge building. Next destination was Regent and Oxford street well known as London's shopping district. Bought lots of stuff ranging from AX. FCUK, Zara, to name a few. Rushed back to Chinatown for dinner before heading to Victoria Station to catch our midnight train back to Leeds.

24/12/08 -

Arrived back at Leeds about 3am and went straight back to Jason's place to sleep lol. Woke up about 10am to go shopping for Xmas gifts as there will be a exchange of presents during the midnight Xmas eve/day party at a friend's place. Again, we succumbered to shopping and we spent about half the day shopping. I got an LV bag for mum here. Later on we prepared for the Xmas party. Had lots of crazy fun there and thanks for the party! Merry Xmas lol

25/12/08 -

Stayed at home. Enough said. Nothing opens on Xmas day in UK. sien.

26/12/08 -

Boxing Day!!! 50% to 70% sales!!! Nothing much to mention here except the fact that we bought lots and lots of stuff lol.

27/12/08 -

Went to York. No, its not what you think...we did not visit the city or any historical sites, we went straight to York's Outlet Store lol. Again we bought lots of stuff including Burberry. Got a polo tee for my sis, and a tee for my bro. Went back to Leeds about 4 hrs later. Said our goodbyes and then returned to Sunderland. T'was sad to leave city life but life goes on and not to mention, lots of coursework to catch up on :S

Will update more if I have the time or when I decide to get rid of my lazy bug :D

Back in Action~ XD

wooo...it's been so long since i've blogged hehe. In case you're all wondering, UK is great! But the only problem is the currency which I'm still not used to.

Life has been good to me over the weeks, through time I've learned how to cook, how to "really" take care of myself and stuff like that. Thanks alot to Choo and Suh Yi for "taking care" of me the first few weeks. Here, I've learned the meaning of true friendship and I'd like to thank my "brothers" for being there for me in times of need and trouble... cheers XD

Well, the place I'm staying is pretty nice...the only problem is the internet line which sucks so bad I've learned to live without the internet. (I'm actually blogging in the library now lol).

Lectures and lab sessions are pretty much the same as it was in Sedaya only that the lecturers here in Sunderland seem to know more than what they teach. This sem I'm taking 4 modules which are Biotechnology final project, Medical Microbiology, Immunology and *drumroll* Japanese language! Finally I have the chance to take my favorite language for free hehe. Btw, the Japanese language lecturer is pretty funny and cute lol.

Food? hmm... the first few days all we had to eat were pasta, pasta, pasta, and pasta. Over the next few days we progressed to eating bread and now finally, we have rice to eat. We had to go through some trouble buying the ingredients because normally our mothers were the ones doing it. Picking fresh vegetables, meat that were on sale, etc etc is pretty fun. When it comes to cooking, it's very much the same as preparing a science experiment. A little dose of this and that and there you have it, a cooked meal XD

Oh, I was in Newcastle about 2 weeks ago, and it's so much different from Sunderland. It's a very beautiful city and not to mention, St James Park was the first BPL stadium I've visited since I've arrived in the UK. Took lots of pictures and they can be seen in my facebook profile.

Hopefully during the 3 week Xmas holidays I'll be able to visit other major cities in England and not to mention, the awesome stadiums! Old Trafford, Anfield, Emirates, to name a few.

As I was saying earlier, life here is great. Looking forward to each coming day and being thankful for each day that has passed.

To all you people back home in Malaysia, I miss you guys! :D

Back in KL (again)

Well, I'm back in KL again. Will be loitering here before I go to UK on the 20th of Sept (gosh, that's only like 2-3 days away o_o" )

Was worried that my luggage would be overweight but luckily it was only 22.6kg at KKIA. That means I still have plenty of space to add stuff before going to UK. Will also be doing some last minute shopping in KL to get stuff like extension wires/adaptors, a pair of formal leather shoes, some instant noodles, and some toiletries. Damn, I hate shopping...

Went out with JS, BP, LB, and ZH earlier just now to Asia Cafe and then chilled at ZH's place for sometime just to talk and play ps2. Never knew playing PES2008 with a group of friends would be so fun. Will really miss you guys when I go to UK but hey, that's what the internet is for~ Keep in touch guys!

Lunch + Shaolin Girl + Burger King

Finally got to go out today. Jeremy picked me up from my place around noon and we went over to Marcel's place to get him. But the lame ass was in his room and his phone wasn't on. We tried to spam phonecalls, the car horn, and the doorbell but there was no response. Jer decided to just have lunch without him while waiting for his call. Supposed to go to Lintas for Sang Nyuk Mien but Jer was on the wrong lane so at the end we had to eat at Foh Sang.

Gay Mars called about an hour later so we went to get him and headed off to CPS. Spent some time at Fun Square. Jer was busy playing some DJ and drum game while Mars and I were setting eyes on this sniper game lol. We even tried this game that uses a camera. The idea is to snap a picture from a moving clip. Not as easy as it looks... Later on headed to Growball to watch Shaolin Girl. It's basically a Japanese film that's similar to Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. Well, that was what we thought...it was different...way different. It sucked that we all gave it a 1/5 rating. The 1 is only for the fact that there were cute Japanese University girls haha. I'd personally give it 2/5 because one of my favorite Japanese actress is starring in it, Kou Shibasaki. No doubt there still were comedic scenes but the movie still sucked. Not only that, the Growball cinema seems worst than before. Weird odour, chairs that sink in, damn...

Mars: "I'm gay"

Watcha' doing Mars?

Fu-yoh...

Voyeur Jer in action

A closer view of what he was snapping

Later on walked around CPS for awhile. Amazing, the whole mall is so hot and filled with 'fan chung's. Decided to evacuate the place asap and headed over to Damai's Burger King for dinner. Is it me or the prices in Burger King are f**kin expensive? Anyway Jer ordered this set that comes with a Soya Bean packet drink. What a weird combination... the thing was that he thought it was ice lemon tea lol. Talked cock as usual and then headed home.

Burger + Soya Bean = absolute no-no

Mars' signature pose

I'll just post some pics from one of other outings earlier this week. Went to KFC for dinner and watched The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Another disappointing movie tsk tsk. To end the day, we stayed up at Mars' place till 2.30am just to talk cock lol.

Finger Lickin' Good (sounds naughty hmmm)

Cheesy Wedges (don't get the wrong idea)

Jer carefully going through his chicken

Shot of the day: Mars' in action

Back in KL

well, I just arrived in KL yesterday and immediately suffered from headache and slight fever. Weather change? hmm, maybe I'm just taufu XD

anyways, will be going to do my visa this trip and hopefully catch up with uni mates.

Will be going to Sepang to catch the GT race queens, yes...not the race/cars, but the race queens. Hot legs, legs, and more legs... hehe

the last 3 days better be good Normy!

Exams are finally over!

My exams have finally ended a few days ago. So my time at UCSI has finally come to and end unless I fail a subject and having to retake it again next semester...lol. So how did my exams go? I'd say it wasn't too bad. Still do-able hehe.

The last paper which was Microbial Biotechnology ended on the 15th of April 2007. Zhen Hui, Jen-Sen, Leng Boon, Boon pin, and I decided to go to 1Utama and watch the movie "Three Kingdoms". The journey to 1Utama that day was terrible. Our initial plan was to go to Yoke Wai's place and park our cars there and taking only 1 car over to 1Utama. Zhen Hui and Jen-Sen were in the 1st car, I was behind them, Leng Boon behind me, and lastly Boon pin. Suddenly it rained damn heavily with thunderstorms. At the UM turn-off junction, Zhen Hui was on the left lane and suddenly signalled to the right and changed lane right before the traffic light. I followed behind him and suddenly the traffic light became red and Zhen Hui hit the emergancy brake causing me to also suddenly brake and yea, the other 2 behind me had to make emergancy stops too. It was so sudden I nearly thought we made a 4-car collision! The front of my car was breathing down Zhen Hui's Myvi back and Leng Boon barely missed my rear bumper while Boon Pin narrowly missed Leng Boon's rear by almost an inch. It was damn scary lol.

Since it rained so heavily, we decided to just go straight to 1U in all 4 cars and then call Yoke Wai and Grace to meet us there. The rest of us had A&W for dinner before meeting the other 2. The movie was great and it revived my interest in the story of the Three Kingdoms again and of cause, to play Dynasty Warriors from scratch lol. Awesome movie, I'd rate it 4/5 for action. However, if you're a hardcore historian then the movie might be a little disappointing as it does not really follow the exact series of events based on the battle between the Wei and Shu forces.

After the movie, we went to Murni for supper before heading home. During that yum cha session, Yoke Wai suggested we go to Genting Highlands for a day trip. So over the next day, we did some serious planning to ensure that the trip would go on smoothly. The ironic part was that the person who suggested this trip barely did any planning and was complaining most of the time like the weather, bla bla bla~ Anyways we had a great time on the last day of the exam and were looking forward to the Genting trip on the 17th of April. XD

Lab Reports, Assignments, Presentations, Exams

I hate doing lab reports

I hate doing assignments

I hate doing presentations

I hate Exams

Yes, I hate them so much and I hate them even more when they're all dued at the same week. Well, it's not like I have a choice anyways but I hope it'll all be over soon. In a blink of an eye, its already near the end of this semester. What does this mean? Well:

• My last sem in UCSI is coming to its end
• 4 months of freedom before going to UK

Sigh, so much to do yet so little time. I know this is a very common complaint and it all depends on time management. How's my time management? well... its crappy, care-free, and happy-go-lucky.

Well, I'm beginning to feel that updating my blog is very tedious (not). I'm just lazy lol. Over the weeks I've been occupying myself with studying, playing the ps2, playing dota almost every night, lab report-ing, and of course, animes and more animes.

Mum and bro are both coming over to Kay-Elle in May. Yippieeee...that means I'll have more kaki to help me pack my stuff to bring home to Kay-Kay, and then over to UK. Actually I miss my mum bah aiseh. XD

Over the 2 weeks I've been hanging out with Bpin and LB. Played badminton with them and found out that these 2 fellas also girl-crazy. Finally got kaki to talk and "muk" girls adi lol. Thanks guys for teman me to go Giant and "buy maggie mee" or was it "muk" girl? haha!

I just borrowed a guitar from Rachel about 3 weeks ago and I've been playing it everytime I have the chance. It's so nostalgic to be strumming and plucking the wooden thing again! Thanks so much Jen-sen for making me not study LOL (all your "hey check out this song man, it's damn uber awesome" everyday has a hypnotising effect).

Last week, Uncle and his family went to Bali for holiday. They happened to go during election. So my sis and I were given the warning to "not go out" during election, except for going to church. Why? well, there might be riots and protests going on around the city. If you're wondering, no...I did not vote. I didn't even register lol! I stayed up on Saturday to follow up with the post-election news. It was pretty 'gan chiong' and expected I guess. Thank God I had my sis with me or else it'll be maggie, maggie, and more maggie for dinner.

Brought the kids to catch a movie this weekend. Watched 'The Spiderwick Chronicles' and I personally found it nice. Very interesting plot. Initially I wanted to bring them to watch 'Ah Long pte ltd' but it's an 18PL movie. Strange...I wonder why is it 18PL? Oh btw, that's because my uncle has 4 free tickets for that movie lol.

Just a reminder for myself, 2nd draft for my finals are out:

• 10th April (10.00am) - Pharmacology 1
• 14th April (2.30pm) - Molecular Cell Biology
• 15th April (2.30pm) - Microbial Biotechnology

Its time to put in more effort guys! All the best, and no lazy pls. okthxbye.

The weekend~

It was a bad and good weekend.

I woke up on Saturday for lab which starts at 9am. Left the house and arrived in uni around 8.55am. When I was about to get out of the car, I realised I forgot my lab coat. I wanted to call any of the gang to help ask the lecturer if it's ok to go for lab without a lab coat. I reached for my pockets... to find out that I left my handphone at home. I didn't know what to do. Go for lab? Go home to get my phone and lab coat? I've got only 5 mins. Ok, so the plan was to go home and grab everything and come back. Great, got stuck in a jam. The time? 9.45am. Oh heck, might as well stay home. Well, its the beginning of a bad day.

Decided to take my sis and cousins out for a movie in KLCC. Went for "Jumper" and personally I find the movie awesome. They didn't really explain why there was a war going on between the jumpers and the paladins. Who the heck knows? Anyway, went to PetroSains after that. It was my first time there. It was pretty interesting but nothing all that great. We had to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk... at the end I was more tired than fascinated.

After that, we had dinner in the food court. Ate glass noodles and yeah, they're pretty tasty. That was how I ended Saturday. From an ugly beginning to a pretty ending. LOL. Went to bed at 8.30pm and woke up to watch EPL. United trashed Newcastle 5 goals to 1. Arsenal drew 2-2 with Birmingham. We're now within 3 points.

Well, today's Sunday. Woke up pretty early to wash the car. After that, did some studying and watched some anime. Went to church later on and then to Komura as usual for weekly dinner. Went home and still figuring out how to end the day/weekend. Maybe I'll just catch the Cup Final at 10.30pm between Chelsea and Tottenham.

Just a rant, TOMORROW I HAVE FREAKIN' 8AM CLASS!

ok that's about it. laterz

A summary of the past week~

It's Chap Goh Mei today, which is the 15th and also the last day of CNY. Damn, it's already the end of CNY and it doesn't even feel like it. >_<"



It's been like 6 days since I've blogged. Been very busy preparing for tests and sleeping. My uncle's gone for a business trip again and I'm sending my cousins to school every morning till he gets back. Yes, 6.30am every morning. So it's like send the kids to school--> come home and sleep---> wake up for class ---> come home and sleep.



Anyway, there was a pharmacology and molecular cell biology test the other day. Did I do alright? well, I don't wanna spoil my weekend thinking about it. Throughout the whole week, many football games were played. UEFA Champion's League, FA Cup, etc etc. I'm getting very lazy to posts final scores. LOL



Went out today with the gang to Midvalley to catch the movie "Dan in Real Life." A very heart-warming and funny movie about family togetherness and romance. Very good OST too. The new GSC Signature in The Gardens looks very glamorous. Might consider watching a movie there some time, hmmm. We had lunch at Oasis. Pretty decent food but not too great. Took alot of pictures too. I think I'll post some here.








Got home after that and slept. Btw, Happy Chap Goh Mei to you all!

My "short" CNY holiday

This year like every other year, I celebrated CNY back home in Kay-Kay. As stated in my earlier post, on the eve of CNY, I had a reunion dinner with my family. The next day, I went to visit Ling's place and then he brought me to his cousin, Alfred's place. We played prawn-crab before going over to another friend's place. Jeremy invited us to his open house. Caught up with Calv, Oliver, Maxi and many more old faces. It was a great gathering. All the best in your new job Jer!

At night I had a simple open house too. Lots of relatives and friends came. Casey then asked me out for a drink with some of the ClickStartPlay members who were bored. I was introduced to a new term "chong." LOL. Anyways, it was great to meet up with them after HobbyCon 2007. Later on, Casey came over to my place and we had a great time talking about the good old days. Before we knew it, we actually talked for almost 3 hours haha. If you're reading this Casey, its always good to reminisce about the past!

I spent most of my remaining CNY with my relatives. Hardly had time to meet up with the gang. Is it me or CNY holidays are getting shorter? hmm... Anyway, I had a call from Jace and Wan Ling. It's good to know that they are doing well in UK. It's even better to know that I'll be joining them soon! hehe.

On the day before I went back to KL, I went out with Kelvin, small Chong, Rieb, Ling, Calv, and Jer to warisan for lunch and some shopping. Met up with Bao Bao and Mary after that. Ended the day with a movie gathering together with ClickStartPlay members. It was penman's first outing with us. We watched CJ7 and it was an awesome movie. I have to admit the plot is weak, but there was enough entertainment to cover up the weak plot. After the movie, we went for a drink at Salim 2. As usual, every CSP meeting ends up as a NDS and PSP outing. This time I took part but I got my a$$ whooped by Toyboy in Tekken.

Sadly, I'm back in KL already. Hope to see you guys soon again! Take care, and God bless! Gong Xi Fa Chai to those I've forgotten to wish!